1 Paul, a servant[a] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David[b] according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Introduction Before we move forward with interpretation, let’s take a minute to consider the method that we’ll use to conduct our study. To start us off in interpretation, we will be primarily focusing on two questions: 1) Who is God? 2) Who are we? And 3) What has he done for us? We will next shift our attention to the application, answering the question: What are we to do in response? Who is God? Jesus is the Christ, i.e. the “savior.” God is the author of the good news, the Gospel. He also fulfills his promises. He promised the Gospel to his people, and he delivered it. Christ is the son of God, and he is powerful. One of the most comprehensive attributes of God is that he has ultimate power. Jesus is not only our Christ, our savior, but our Lord. We cannot have Christ as a savior, and not our Lord. His presence and commands must be ever-present, and we must be made more and more like him with every passing day. If you do not have Christ as Lord, there is reason to doubt that he is your savior. God is our father. Who are We? We may be called as servants of Christ. We may also be called as his own (vs 6), however, this is not addressed to everyone, but to the church in Rome. Finally, we are all loved by God to an extent, namely by way of his general benevolence toward us, but only those who belong to Christ have been shown God’s special love, his special grace, and the promise of salvation. What has God Done? God is the one who does the calling and the sanctifying. He has “called” and “set apart” Paul for his Gospel. He has also “called” all of those who belong to himself. (vs 6) Those who belong to Him, who are saved, have not called themselves into grace, but have instead been called. He also fulfills his promises. He promised the Gospel to his people, and he delivered it. God has loved us. What are We to Do? We are to be servants of Christ. We are to answer the call of apostleship, of acting—to some extent—on Christ’s behalf. We are to acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord. We are to obey Christ. He saved us in order to bring about this. (vs 5)

NT in a year: Mathew 23:23-39 Today's Scripture: Exodus 34:6-7 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; God is, indeed, a God of love; just as he is a God of wrath. So often God's divine attributes are pitted against each other and looked at as mutually exclusive. This could not be farther from the truth. Here we clearly see the loving and gracious attributes of God listed, but they are immediately followed by the warning: "He does not leave the guilty unpunished. God is a gracious God and has compassion for all of his creatures. Indeed, he has given us the gift of his son, so that all who believe in him should have eternal life. This does not mean that he will ever act unjustly. Punishment still awaits the guilty. God is just in his love, for God's love is just. Application: Here, we are reassured that the guilty will not go unpunished. We understand, based on the testimony of scripture, that we are found guilty in the sight of God for our sins. How then can we escape God's just wrath? Only by believing in his son. If we do this, our guilt is laid on his shoulders, and he takes upon himself the just punishment for our sin. S.D.G. Join us right here, every morning for daily NT reading and commentary. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community!

NT in One Year: Mathew 21:23-46 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Part of the understanding Reformed doctrine is understanding how God's attributes work together and exist in perfection and equality with each other. Sometimes, we see Jesus' love on display. sometimes, we see his knowledge and wisdom, and sometimes, his power and holiness. Here, we have the proverbial fire and brimstone Jesus, preaching his future wrath upon belief and sin in full force. Jesus eases into the discussion with the Chief Priests with a parable, immediately turning the tables and asserting that they are the aggregator of the story, and they are the ones making the fatal error. If it is not harsh enough the unbelief, something the scribes and Chief priest were notorious for, was so prevalent that prostitutes would enter the kingdom of God ahead of them, he goes on to make their destruction clear. "43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”" (Mathew 21:43-44) Daily Application: There are countless times that Jesus puts his love on full display, times when he is merciful and abundantly gracious in conversation. And there are times when his mercy and love coincide with his just anger and wrath, and if not wrath, then a severe warning. Jesus preached and warned about the destruction and wrath that awaits unbelief. Let us heed it, and go out and do the same. Because when the time comes for God's wrath to be poured out, the time for preaching and belief is over. When God's wrath finally falls, it crushes. S.D.G. Join us right here, every morning for daily NT reading and commentary. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community!

Bible in a Year: Mathew 21:1-22 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers." To understand this passage, it is helpful to note that the ability to make affordable sacrifices was given to the people of Israel by the Lord. But for the sake of convenience, currency exchanges and livestock booths were erected about the temple. Of course, given the period in time, we can assume that these sellers were corrupt. It has taken a different form, but today, how has God's house, a house of prayer, been made a den of robbers? Today we have theaves and robbers that use their pulpits and platforms such as TBN and Day Star TV to empty the pockets of their followers. More lethal even than this obvious form of robbery is the licentiousness that has become the American church. God's house is no longer a house of prayer. It is a house of youth programs, book studies, social events, and a 1-hour pep talks and music performances on Sunday morning, but not a house of worship in, with, and through prayer. Daily Application: The next time we enter the Lord's house, let us remember why we have gathered there. It is not to socialize or enjoy a cozy inspirational talk, but to worship him. Let us pray. Let us sing. Let us study. Let us even fellowship with his elect. Let us glory in him. Let us worship God in his house. S.D.G. Join us right here, every morning for daily NT reading and commentary. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community!

NT in a year: Mathew 16 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern the [c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? There is a storm coming. The end is near. It may be tomorrow, or it may be a thousand lifetimes away. Either way, death comes for us all, let us not find ourselves asleep, having missed the coming of our only hope for salvation: Jesus Christ. Here, we see that the Pharisees, who could predict the weather looking at the ski, failed to recognize the spiritual weather of their time: the signs and miracles Christ performed which proved his authority as God. They were asleep just as the thunder crashed before their eyes. We are fooling ourselves if we think this cannot happen to us now. Daily Application: Today, we have a twofold application. Let our first wake up ourselves! Christ has come. The storm was here and gone. Let us not recognize it. Let us repent, believe, and grow in our knowledge of him and his word--which is pleasing to God (Colossians 1). Secondly, let us share this hope with others. We are commanded to. More than that, God uses his people to share his gospel. How can we, who have been shown such grace and have had our eyes peeled open to the truth, not go and share it? The sad truth is, more easily than we would like to admit. When was the last time you shared your faith? S.D.G. Join us right here, every morning for daily NT reading and commentary. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community!

NT in One Year: Mathew 15:21-39 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed [d]at once. Jesus Christ came, suffered, died, and rose again in three days, breaking the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. This, indeed, made salvation available to all, for all have sinned and are equally in need of God's grace. However, at this time, that dividing wall had not yet been broken between Jews and Gentiles. This may be why his disciples begged him to send her away, and why Jesus answered in such a fashion. This woman, who had just addressed Jesus as Lord, had more faith than many of the Jews which Jesus had been sent to minister first. It was for this reason that our Lord had mercy on her, delivering her daughter from her tormentor. This woman did approach her Lord with humility, but she also had hope. Dare we say she approached Jesus with confidence? Even the dogs have faith. How much more, as God's chosen people, should we approach our loving father with confidence? Daily Application: When we pray, we can rest in the fact that the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles (us) has already been broken. We now have been given access to the Father through the work of our Christ, Jesus. Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, with faith in the work of Christ, praying in his name. S.D.G. Join us right here, every morning for dialy NT reading and commentary. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community!

By, Alexander Scott When I was 12 years old, my Dad bought my Mom a piano for Christmas. Although I had listened to and appreciated its music, I can confidently say that my knowledge of the piano—or any instrument, for that matter—was close to none. My fascination with classical music and great composers such as Wolfgang Mozart and J.S. Bach was my first exposure to the world of the piano. Until one sunny day that March, when I sat down and decided that I was going to learn how to play and play it well. I started small, utilizing the most poultry of piano theory workbooks, but it wasn’t two years before I had worked myself up to the level of being able to play the simpler works of my heroes, Mozart, and Bach. As my knowledge of classical music and keyboard compositions progressed, the music of one composition caught my ear: Bach’s Italian Concerto in F Major. I distinctly remembered listening to its arpeggios on repeat and dreaming of the feeling of one day getting to perform that piece on a stage, from a beautiful grand piano. By the time I turned 15, my parents noticed my determination and invested in weekly, private lessons. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn from a skilled teacher, soaking up every minute of our half-hour lessons. I won my first gold medal performing a piece of music in the WSMA Solo Ensemble Contest. My junior year in high school, me and my teacher were discussing what piece I should choose to compete in that year’s competition. I told her I wanted to perform the third movement of BWV 971, Bach’s Italian concerto. Due to its complexity, she strongly encouraged me to choose a simpler piece, but luckily, I decided to press forward. If I’m being honest, one week into practicing I felt that I bit off more than I could chew. The piece was technically very difficult, and several pages longer than the average submission. But there was no turning back. My teacher was able to help me for about two weeks before we had a catastrophic disagreement. It had been two years since the start of the pandemic, and our teacher arbitrarily started requiring us to wear masks again. I respectfully declined to participate, after complying with her wishes on the matter for over two years. She promptly ended our seemingly healthy relationship, sending me home before we had even begun that week's lesson. What made it all the worse is that she cautioned me further against my decision to not comply, citing my inability to carry out the task of competing that spring without her. Concerning as it was, I had to remain consistent with my convictions, and end our weekly lesson. This left me with the mammoth task of learning and perfecting the piece, virtually alone. Thanks to her setting me off on the right foot, the help of a friend, 2-5 hours of daily practice, early mornings, late nights, and God’s good providence, I was able to win a first-place medal and advance to state. I performed the concerto in front of family, friends, and other competitors on a beautiful Steinway grand piano, and walked away with another gold medal. My teacher was present, watching my performance (masked) surprised to see that I had made it on stage. The experience certainly came with its challenges, but I wouldn’t have missed that feeling for the world. Of course, putting myself through that much practice greatly improved my knowledge of the piano and classical music; however, the greatest lesson that I learned had nothing to do with the Piano. It was that success depends upon how much you put into something. You can’t expect good grades, a first-place medal, or a successful career without putting in the work. When it comes down to it, no one will be there to carry you to the finish line, success in anything really depends on you and your work ethic. I’ve concluded that most goals are achievable, it just requires follow through, focus, determination, and time. You can aim as high as you want to—and in fact, you should. I distinctly remember dreaming that one day I would be able to play Bach’s Italian Concerto on the piano. That dream seemed impossible at the time but ended up coming true. We all have dreams for our future, myself included, and after that experience, the list of what I see as achievable has only grown. Find something you've always dreamed of, but feel is impossible. Pray about it, and then consistently work at it until you have achieved your goal. Leave a like and share this post with a friend if you've enjoyed reading it! Comment on something you're going to achieve this year.

Daily Reading: Mathew 15:1-20 "12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots." These words are a clear reminder to us that it is the Father who plants within us the seed of regeneration which grows into a tree of faith. It is God and God alone who has the power to successfully call man and to sanctify and keep him until the end. When this does not happen, when God is not involved, when the Father does not plant the tree, it will be pulled up by the roots and cast aside to "dry up." (John 15:6). A tree not planted by the father has weak roots that are sure to fail in the end. It may look healthy, but unless it is the Father who does the planting, it will not be the Father who does the sustaining, and without the water of life provided only by God, the tree will die. To God be the glory, for all faith comes through him. Man's efforts will fail. It is only by the divine hand of God that our faith is rooted and grounded, strong until the end. For believers, those the Father has given faith to, it is a life of constant sanctification and pruning. (John 15:2) This is promised to all of us. Only until we see a tree's fruit, the fruit of its sanctification, will we truly know whether or not it was planted by the Father. Daily Application: Constantly remember that if your salvation is of the lord, it cannot be shaken. Your faith will persevere to the end, your sanctification is promised, and your resurrection is sure. Leave a like if you appreciated this post, and comment to share your thoughts with our community! S.D.G.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow John 12 - Read: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12&version=ESV Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: https://open.spotify.com/track/1aFszZxg8HR4yFhMq4mgAP?si=729c99a8f92540f1 Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Daily Teaching & Preaching Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Daily Teaching & Preaching Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Be the first to spark discussion.

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Scripture - Discuss in the Comments Bellow Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Daily Teaching & Preaching

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott Daily Hymns & Inspirational Music: Daily Teaching & Preaching (Important info on the SBC abuse claims and allegations.) Share your thoughts on the scripture passage in the comments bellow!

For fellow students: The Portland Post's "Daily Scripture and Theology" is a Bible reading plan, a group discussion forum, and a daily collection of the best music and teaching on the Bible and Christian theology. This resource is a ministry of The Portland Post and is designed to benefit the Christian community and further the Reformation in America. - Al Scott NEW BOOK: Daily Scripture Reading: John The best of classical, Christian hymns & melodies: Top podcast of the day: Share your thoughts on the scripture passage in the comments below!